And so it begins…..the free agency period in Philly

It’s almost July 1st, and that means its free agency time in the NHL. So far, it has been a reasonably quiet period leading up to this point, with very little significant re-signing of impact players, and virtually no trades that anyone would consider important. However, the Flyers are close to making some important decisions towards the upcoming free agency period….and some of them are making me a little nervousIt was posted today in the Philadelphia Inquirer by Tim Pannachio that the flyers are most likely not going to resign Mark Recchi, and there is a chance he will end up in Pittsburgh. As much as I love Mark Recchi, I have no real problem with this decision. At 36, most of his glory days are behind him, and I really do think last year’s performance was all he had left. For him to go to a team like the penguins that can afford to pay him 5 million a year is a good decision for him.

Now on to the nail biting stuff….

The Flyers, as of this point, still have not said anything about signing either Zhamnov or Malakov. This leads me to believe that they are either still working on deals, or are going to let them go on July first. I don’t like this one bit. By letting Zhamnov go, they would be without the player with the most talent on the team. They need a playmaker like him. Malakov is pure depth on the blue line, and he really showed he wants to play last season in the playoffs. It would be a waste to let him go. He could really solidify the defensive core.

I also read (I believe it was either on philadelphiaflyers.com or in the daily news I don’t remember) that it is possible that Sean Burke would be back next season, due to his option he wants to pick up. I don’t really feel one way or the other on this one. Although his option would be an expensive one I would assume, he would still provide some backup to Esche and keep his morale up given the fact they are so close. I don’t know whatever.

As far as signing outside players, I don’t believe the flyers will sign anyone this off season. I don’t think they need to really. Other than the potential free agent they have, I see nobody they really need to focus on. If they could sign Zhamnov and Malakov, that’s the same as if they were out on the market anyway. So if I were them I would just work on those two.